Piperpilot's 6X12 build

[piperpilot3tk]

I have been using a friends 6X12 cargo trailer to haul all my gear during my annual week long camping trip. I actually used the trailer more than the owner did, so earlier this year I traded him some parts he needed for the trailer. Since it is mine now and I can do with it as I wish, I have started a camper conversion. The trailer is a 2006 single axle 6X12 with a round nose, flat roof,barn doors, roof vent and side RV door.

So far I have removed the plywood from the walls and floor, added another hole in the roof and installed a Fantastic fan, insulated the roof, cut a hole in the front wall and installed a 6500 BTU A/C, installed a Dexter over/under axle kit for more clearance and cut out most of the cheesy Z channel floor crossmembers and welded in new square tubing for extra strength and provisions for under floor storage. My current house does not have a work shop so I am working on it at a friends house and I have been only working on it about twice a month so far, so it is going slow. My goal is to have it finished by spring, so I need to get moving!

I have been looking at designs and getting ideas from this site for close to a year and you guys have already helped quite a bit. I have already purchased most of the parts except for wall covering and materials for making the beds, now to get motivated and get it done!

[roadinspector]

Welcome aboard!! Be sure to post some goods pictures so we can have some more ideas to steal.

Earnest

[piperpilot3tk]

Picture test.

[piperpilot3tk]

Worked some more this evening on the new floor crossmembers. Got the rest of the parts welded in, next is picklex and paint, then I can start building the below deck storage boxes.

[roadinspector]

Earnest

[Rainier70]

You are really getting down to the bones and making it your way. Nice work! I'm looking forward to pics of your floor storage and more.

[Prem]

Piperpilot,

NICE! And ditto what the other guys said.

Here's an idea that worked well for me when I had my teardrop's steel chassis bare: I wire brushed it well, rinsed it off, let it dry and then painted all the steel with Henry's Roof Cement (tar)---except the tongue (which I wanted to look pretty in hammered-look Krylon). Rocks ding the paint on a chassis under the trailer. With the black tar, there's no peeling paint and no rust, ever. If you're going to paint the underside of the plywood floor with tar anyway, might as well do the chassis, I figured. On my next build, I'm going to roll on a thick coat of tar on the plywood, then put down a layer of that extra-tough landscaping fiberglass (for under rock walkways to keep weeds from growing up), then two more layers of tar. Tough!

My 2 cents.


Prem

[piperpilot3tk]

Thanks guys. Prem, good idea with the tar, i suspect it would last just about forever. I already have some Picklex 20 and some Rustoleum Industrial single part air dry epoxy left over from when I fabricated a diesel genset that i may as well use before the paint goes bad. This build will use close to 50% repurposed materials that were either left overs from previous projects, or were purchased from the scrap man at the place where I work. So far all of the metal for the frame crossmenbers and under floor bracing has been recycled and some is a little rusty, a quick application of Picklex will convert the light rust into a phosphate like coating which paint adheres to well.

My current build floorplan is to have a galley on the front wall, and have bunk beds on both side walls. The galley will have a Corian counter top with a fridge under the counter. A galley upper cabinet assembly will be fabricated to fit around the A/C and will include the circut breaker panel as well as volt and amp meters for both AC and DC power. Besides the galley and the bunks, I currently have no plans for lav or any other furnishings. Below deck, in order from front to back, will be a 12 gallon grey water tank, a 2'x3'x12" deep stainless insulated ice box beer cooler, a 12 gallon fresh water tank, a 4'x4'x12" deep storage box and a 2'x3'x8" deep battery box. Installing the batteries in the front would have made the wire runs shorter, but installing the 180 pounds of batteries in the aft end should help with weight and balance.

[Prem]

Cool. I love "repurposed" materials in trailer building. My last build, the Round Tail, started as an abandoned 1948 Shasta chassis (two runs of 2.5" C channel steel, a hitch and an axle, no cross members). I went down to the Goodwill overflow store and got angle iron, queen-size bed frames, cut them up and welded them to make a strong perimeter frame to carry the wooden structure. Worked like a charm and made for a strong, light camping trailer.

[piperpilot3tk]

Got the cross members and wall studs treated with Picklex 20 and painted with Rustoleum oil based single part epoxy industrial metal paint. No rusting steel parts in my future!

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[piperpilot3tk]

Spent the last two days working on the trailer. Installed new vent dome to replace the factory unit that was rotten and cracked. Cleaned the galvanized roof with scotchbrite and 409 to remove mold, solvent wiped, then painted with three coats of Black Jack Ultra-Roof 1000 elastomeric heat reflective paint. Didn't take any before and after temp readings, but there is a signicant difference and the OAT was only 82-83F.

Also picked up two sheets of 1/2" ply and cut the parts to make the below floor storage boxes. The plywood for the boxes will be screwed and glued using Titebond, then will have aluminum angle screwed to all the edges with machine screws and T-nuts. Don't want anything to fall apart Also bought some rubberized roof coating (black tar looking stuff) to paint the bottom of the storage boxes and floor after it gets a coat of oil based paint to seal it up really good.

[piperpilot3tk]

Anyone have any suggestions or personal experience with a propane instant water heater for the CT conversion. Thinking if I use the trailer to camp in when I am hunting, it may be nice to have a warm shower and get all the dead critter smell off before bed!

[Prem]

piperpilot,

I installed a full water system in my bus conversion and used an instant hot water (propane) heater. It worked well. But it was the end point of serious "systems complexity" because it required a lot of fresh water storage, a 12 VDC water pump, a couple of 12 VDC deep cycle batteries and the solar panels to keep them up. Then it also required a gray water tank and driving that to a dump station, hooking up the accordian hose, operating the value, stowing the hose and on and on. Cha-ching, cha-ching, and constant issues with all of the above (especially days of poor sunlight for the PV).

Now---for warm weather camping---I just use a 3-gallon, camping shower bag. On cloudy days I heat the water in the coffee pot and pour it in. Four 2-foot long 2x4s make the outside shower floor. Camping shower bag goes on the roof of my CT near the front. No shower curtain. Wear a swimsuit and it doesn't matter who may be looking. Clean is clean. It doesn't need to be complexity dependent. Simplicity = Less expense, more free time and less anxiety. In the cold weather, it's a different issue: Sponge bath or hot springs, motel, pay shower at a truck stop or RV park. If I were a gazillionaire I'd still camp and keep it this simple.


My 2 cents.

[piperpilot3tk]

Prem, Good points and well written! I too would still camp even if I hit the lotto jack pot, and yes camping in a motor home is not camping. I am also a fan of the keep it simple philosophy, but on this build I decided that with some extra work I would be able to fit some water tanks under the floor, and therefore not have to haul around some water jugs. I already have a water pump, tanks, sink and faucet, but I was trying to decide if I wanted to take it to the next level and hot water for a shower. I have previously used a shower system that uses a copper coil in a fire to heat the water, but it was a pain to use and haul around. I have not tried a shower bag before, but it does not get much simpler than that. If I do go with the propane heater, I will install connections on the outside for the shower head. Another option may be to build a polished stainless heat deflector and hangar for a shower bag. Decisions...decisions!

[Prem]

piperpilot,

One time a big flood hit our town and wiped out the water system for a week. The wife and kids (and most of the neighbors) went to visit friends in a city that wasn't affected. I stayed home with the shotgun to watch over the house. The National Guard was dispensing potable water from tanker trailers. I filled up two 5-gallon jugs every day. Since the shower didn't work, I drilled a hole into the wall and a 2x4 above the fiberglass backsplash and put in a strong hook. I heated water on the stove, poured it into the bag, hung the bag on the hook and had a nice hot shower every day until the city water came back. Since then, I don't want plumbing in my RVs.

And then there's the one-bar-of-soap and 2,000-gallon shower at Burning Man in Nevada in late August when it's 100*. No towel needed. It comes around about every hour...and sometimes the company is delightful! Once you're clean, you can just sit around in a lawn chair and watch the next hilarious, shower parade. Sometimes the truck is moving faster, which makes the parade even more hilarious. Here's the PG-rated photo:


P.S. Send me a PM and I'll tell you about the water truck mermaid I saw once.